For decades, coastal advocates have championed the idea of turning the Mississippi River loose into the marsh in an effort to restore parts of Louisiana’s rapidly-eroding coast.
Now Billy Nungesser, the state’s Republican Lt. Governor says we cannot destroy our fisheries and need to come up with a 5 to 10 year plan.
The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project, the most prominent feature of the state’s 50-year coastal master plan, would channel up to 75,000 cubic feet per of river water in the Plaquemines Parish West Bank south of Belle Chasse.
Nungesser has been taking his case to local parish councils, including St. Bernard, and Plaquemines, to rally opposition to the diversion. Both parishes, and St. Tammany, have gone on record in opposition.
Computer modeling cited in a draft environmental impact statement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found land-building in the project would peak after 30 years at 28 square miles. However, it would come with costs, including damage to commercial fisheries in the bay. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) sees the diversion, and a similar project on the east bank, as the best hope for restoring land.
